Well drilling pipe constructions and the like with wear resistant inserts



June 1", 1965 R. s. DALRYMPLE 3,186,738

WELL DRILLING P CONSTRUGTIONS AND THE LIKE WITH W RESISTANT INSERTS Filed Oct. 13, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG-6 INVENTOR. ROBERT s. DALRYMPLE HIS ATTORNEYS June I, 1965 WELL DRILLING PIPE CONSTRUCTIONS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 13, 1961 R. S. DALRYMPLE WITH WEAR RESISTANT INSERTS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG-4 INVENTOR.

ROBERT S. DALRYMPLE BY an 4 HIS ATTORNEYS United States Patent Oflice 3,186,738 Patented June 1, 1965 3,186,738 WELL DRILLING PIPE CONSTRUCTIGNS AND THE LiKE WITH WEAR RESESTANT INSERTS Robert S. Dah'ymple, Chesterfield County, Va., assignor to Reynolds Metals Company, Richmond, Va., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 13, 1%1, Ser. No. 144,904 1 Claim. (Cl. 285-55) This invention relates generally to well drilling pipe constructions and the'like.

One of the features of this invention includes the use of a wear resisting sleeve Within well drilling pipe constructions which prevents cavitation erosion on the internal downstream side of an eddy current producing irregula'rity in the pipe construction. The sleeve also may be used to repair pipe constructions which have been outwardly cut away by such cavitation erosion phenomenon.

In drilling relatively deep wells, a plurality of pipe sections, such as thirty feet long, more or less, are serially joined together by tool joints adjacent the top of the well to form a long drill pipe or drill string which is used to drive, raise or lower a drill bit at the lower end of the drill string. A drilling fluid or abrasive mud is circulated down inside the long drill string to the bottom of the well where such fluid is discharged at the bottom of the well through the drill bit. The drill bit bores the well deeper and deeper, with a corresponding lengthening of the drill string by the addition of more pipe sections at the top of the drill string. The drilling fluid picks up the cuttings and carries them upwardly on the outside of the drill string to the top of the well. The drill string may be used to' rotate the drill bit directly, or the drilling fluid may be used to rotate the drillbit, as in turbo drilling, on the hydraulic motor principle.

The circulation of the drilling fluid, or mud downwardly through the drill's't'ring to the bottom of the well, and then upwardly outside of the drill string back to the top of the well, or vice versa, involves a relatively large amount of frictional resistance, which requires relatively large power consumption and relatively large capacity pumping equipment.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a construction in which the frictional resistance to the circulation of the drilling, fluid within the drill string is reduced materially by the sleeve construction in comparison with previous constructions. Because of the large number of tool joints in a deep well pipe string, the reduction of friction loss at each joint by this invention provides a substantial saving in pumping operation and equipment.

Another problem involved in the drilling of relatively deep wells is the weight of the drill string itself, which grows greater and greater as the length of the drill string increases with theincrease in the depth of the well. Heretofor'e steel pipe has been used to produce the drill string, and the weight of the steel drill string becomes very large and imposes great loads on the equipment used to rotate, raise and lower the drill string.

Another object of this invention is to reduce the weight of the drill stem in comparison with previous drill strings which are made of steel pipe. According to this invention relatively heavy metal joint: members, such as steel joint members, and relatively light metal pipe sections, such as aluminumalloy pipe sections are used to provide a lighter drill string.

The joint structures are improved by the sleeve construction so that a substantially constant internal diameter is maintained at the joints without any large inward groove construction.

The frictional resistance to the flow of drilling fluid or brasive mud is reduced, according tothis invention, by the use of pipe sections of uniform internal diameter which are connected with each other by joint members of this invention, which are secured to the ends of the pipe sections. The joint members have an internal flow diameter of the pipe sections. The inner flow diameters of the pipe sections and of the joint members are smoothly joined together by the sleeve construction to-form a substantially smooth, substantially constant diameter fluid passageway, with only a very narrow, substantially frictionless, inward groove construction between the joint members. This very narrow groove construction permits eflicient construction and operation of the threaded engagement of the joint members, so that the joint members may be threadedly engaged at at the top of the well with relative ease.

Another object of this invention is to provide, by the use of the sleeve, a joint construction between the pipe sections which has a relatively constant diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the main bodies of the pipe sections, and in which joint construction only a very narrow inward groove is provided which reduces the eddy currents, the consequent cavitation erosion, and the frictional loss which otherwise would be produced as the abrasive drilling fluid passes through the pipes and joints.

Another object of this invention is to provide a joint construction in which a wear resistant sleeve is secured to the interior surfaces adjacent the joints of the drill string.

Another object of this invention is to provide a joint construction according to the foregoing object in which the sleeve has means to reduce the longitudinal extent of the usual inward groove which is usually produced in joint constructions of drill strings.

Another object of this invention is to provide a; joint construction in which the sleeve of the two preceding objects is made of tough material, such as a plastic materia The continued use of previous pipe sections for the drill string has caused the pipe sections and their joint structures to be worn outwardly by cavitation erosion produced by the eddy currents in the abrasive drilling fluid as it flows through the drill string. An object of this invention is to provide a method of repairing one or more of the pipe sections and their joint structures by securing a wear resistant sleeve on the interior of the pipe section to pro= vide an inner flow surface substantially identical with the original flow surface before it was eroded.

Another object of this invention is to provide'a method of repairing previous pipe sections which have a relatively wide inward groove'by securing a wear resistant sleeve in the interior of one or more of the pipe sections to reduce the width of such inward groove.

Another object of this invention is to provide a pipe and joint construction having one or more features herein dis closed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a well drilling pipe construction and the like having'one'or more of the features herein disclosed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a method of assembly and/ or operation of the well drilling pipe construction and the like having one or more of the features herein disclosed.

Another object of this invention is to'provide' a method of repairing a pipe and joint construction having one or morefeatures herein disclosed.

Other objects are apparent from this description and/or the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic viewof part of a well with pipe sections in the well and-other pipese'ctions ready 3 to be joined to the drill string and to be lowered into the well.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view, partly in elevation and partly in cross section, of parts of two pipe sections and 1 two joint members joined together.

FIGURE 3 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 but showing the joint members separated.

FIGURE 4 is a view partly in cross section and partly in elevation of part of FIGURE 2 further enlarged, and with the cross section taken along line 44 of FIGURE 5.

FIGURE 5 is a cross section of a portion of FIGURE 4 taken along line 55.

FIGURE 6 is a diagrammatic cross section of a portion of a previous joint structure. 7

A partially drilled well is diagrammatically indicated at 10, in FIGURE 1. The well 10 contains a plurality of pipe sections 12. Another pipe section 12 is shown directly above the well, ready to be attached to the drill string produced by the sections 12 within the well. A plur-ality of additional pipe sections '12 are shown adjacent the well in readiness to be serially added to the drill string as the depth of the well is increased.

The Well 10 may have an outer casing 11 which may extend down in the well any desired distance such as from near the top of the well to the bottom of the well.

A tool joint member or pipe joint means 14 is somewhat permanently secured to one end of the pipe section 12. Another tool joint member or pipe joint means 16 is semi-permanently secured to the other end of the pipe section 12. At the top of the Well, the joint member 14 0f the pipe section about to be joined may be threadedly engaged into the joint member 16 of the topmost pipe section 12 of the drill string. The joint members which have been united and are within the well structure are indicated by the numerals 16, 14, to designate that the joint members have been united by a temporary threaded engagement elsewhere described.

Pipe handling machinery and fluid circulating machinery are also used near the top of the well and are well known and are therefore not illustrated. A crane or derrick construction, not shown, is capable of lifting the pipe sections 12 and aligning them with the drill string of the well. The machinery is also capable of rotating the drill string at the desired speed either directly to rotate the drill bit 18 at drilling speedat the bottom of the well or else to cause turbo drilling action in the drill 18 in those constructions where the drill bit 18 has a hydraulic motor operated by the flow of the drilling fluid through the drill bit to rotate the cutting members of the bit 18.

The drilling fluid or mud is circulated downwardly through the inner flow passageways 20, 22, 24 and 20, FIG- URE 2, of the pipe and joint constructions so that it emerges at the drill bit 18 at the bottom of the well. There the drilling fluid picks up the drillings and carries them upwardly outside of the pipe sections 12 and joint members 14 and 16, as indicated by the arrow 26 in FIGURE 1, so that the drilling fluid and the cuttings are discharged through a suitable discharge pipe 28, where the drillings may be separated in a Well known manner in the drilling art. The downward flow of the drilling fluid is indicated by the arrow 30, FIGURE 1, and it takes place within the passageways 20, 22,24 and of FIGURE 2.

Under certain conditions, the drilling fluid may be circulated downwardly outside the pipe sections 12 and upwardly inside the pipe sections, if desired. The description given herein is applicable to such type of circulation. Under these conditions, the sleeve construction is placed within the pipe section on the inner downstream side of the eddy forming obstruction. Physically such a sleeve would be placed above the obstruction so that the sleeve would shield the pipe construction from the eddy currents in the drilling fluid. The sleeve would be inverted.

It is to be noted that each pipe section 12 has one of its joint members 14 at one end and the other of its joint members 16 at the opposite end. However, the joint member of one pipe section 12 threadedly engages the joint member 16 of an adjacent pipe section 12 as is about to be done at the top of the well of FIGURE 1.

The pipe section 12 may, if desired, be made of aluminum alloy or any other desired metal. However, features of this invention are applicable to pipe sections and joint constructions made entirely of steel or any other metal or metals.

For convenience, certain words indicating direction, such as upper, lower, etc., are used for convenience in description, but it is to be understood that the members so described may have other directions, as is obvious.

The lower enlarged end 32 of any pipe section 12 may have the joint member 14, which is also known as a pin joint member, semi-permanently secured to the end 32. Conveniently this may be accomplished by threading the outer surface of the end 32 and the inner surface of the pin member 14 and 34 and by providing inner and outer lands 36 on the pin 14 and end 32 respectively. The lands 36 are telescoped together. The end portion 32 of the pipe section has an end shoulder 38 which smoothly abuts a radially inwardly extending shoulder 40 in the pin member 14.

An upper or first pipe section 12 may be semi-permanently secured to the first or pin joint member or joint means by a threading and heat shrinking procedure in any desired manner, prior to the assembly of the pipe section 12 and joint member 14 in the well string. For example, the pin joint member 14 may be heated to a temperature such as 650 F. The pipe section 12 may be cooled by any suitable method such as by plugging the end of pipe 12 adjacent shoulder 38 and then circulating cooling water inside the pipe 12, not shown. The pin joint member 14 may be quickly threaded overthe end portion 32 and may thereafter be cooled for heat shrinking and gripping action.

The internal flow diameter 20 of the first or upper pipe section 12 and the internal flow diameter of the fluidflow passageway 22 of the first or pin joint member 14 are substantially aligned and have equal internal flow diameters which smoothly abut at the shoulders 38 and gig to form a smooth and uniform flow passageway 20,

A second pipe section 12 is shownat the lower parts of FIGURES 2 and 3 which pipe section has a second end portion 42 which may be enlarged if desired, as illustrated. The end portion 42 has a second end shoulder 44. The box joint member 16 has a radially inwardly extending shoulder 46 on said box joint 16 which smoothly and tightly abuts the second end shoulder 44.

The second end portion 42 and the box joint member or second joint means 16 have second internal diameters 45 and 47 which may be aligned with smoothly abutting shoulders 44 and 46. The diameters 45 and 47 are greater than the diameters of surfaces 20 and 22. These greater diameters 45 and 47 maybe produced by cavitation erosion, with or without proper subsequent shaping or cutting, or they may be produced in new pipe which has been properly shaped at 45 and 47 as shown in FIGURE 4.

In a previously used pipe with its joint means 16, .the cavitation erosion may cut the inner surface of the previously new pipe which originally had an inner surface 24, FIGURE 6, substantially equal to diameter 22 of joint member 14 and of pipe end 32 and pipe 12 thereof. This cutting action is etfected by eddy currents caused by the relatively large groove 52, FIGURE 6, which groove is necessary because of tolerance requirements in the threaded construction 48 between the joint members14 and 16. A tight outer shoulder abutment at 50 is provided at one end of the threaded engagement 48. However, a groove construction 52 is necessary at the other end of the threaded engagement because it is not possible to provide a tight shoulder abutment at 52 on account of tolerances, etc.

The cavitation erosion generally cuts the inner surface 24 of the joint member and the adjacent inner surface of the pipe section end 42 to an extent that the pipe and joint means are no longer satisfactory. To repair such pipe and joint means, the eroded surface preferably is preliminarily properly shaped by proper tools to provide the surfaces 45, 47, 45A, 47A and 47B. A wear resistant sleeve 51, which may be made of tough material, such as a plastic material, such as Penton or the equivalent, may then be secured to such surfaces 45, 47 etc., by any suitable adhesive or the like to provide an inner flow surface 24 which is substantially of the same diameter as the diameters 22 and 20 and theworiginal diameter which was worn away by the cavitation erosion. A new very narrow groove 52A with a slanting surface at 52B is so narrow and smoothly finished that cavitation erosion is prevented or greatly reduced.

The joint construction shown in FIGURES 1-5, therefore, may be produced as a repair for previously used pipe and joint constructions, or it may be produced as a new product from new materials.

The sleeve 51 may taper to a very thin cross section near the end 51A to prevent cavitation erosion downstream from end 51A and may have an outward flange 51B substantially to fill the previous groove corresponding to groove 52 of FIGURE 6, so only the very narrow groove 52A remains.

If desired a plurality of slots 51C may be made in the lower end of the sleeve 51. These slots may be 45 apart, inches wide and three inches long.

By way of example the sleeve 51 may have the following typical dimensions: A=9; 3:7 54A=4 in diameter; 45=7 /s" in diameter; angle B'=5; ID. of surface 24=3% from C to D with C being 4 /2 from 74; ID. of surface 24 from C to E=3 thickness of edge 51A= with distance from 51A to B being 1 /2; diameter of 47B=3.690".

The above dimensions are only intended to indicate a typical sleeve and such dimensions may be varied as desired.

The shoulder abutment 50 is formed by the shoulders 53 and 54 on joint members 14 and 16. The groove construction 52 is formed mainly by the end or shoulder 72 and shoulder 74 of the joint members 14 and 16.

The mud flow past the groove construction 52A is substantially a laminar flow of the same substantially frictionless resistance as in the smooth passageways 20, 22, 24 and 20.

The tapered engagement 48, FIGURES 2 and 4, is produced by the threaded constructions 64 and 66, FIG- URE 3, which engage each other to produce the threaded engagement 48 of FIGURES 2 and 4. The various threads shown in FIGURES 2-5 are diagrammatically shown. However, they actually may be of any well known detailed construction, such as approved by the American Petroleum Institute.

The notched or groove construction 52A is provided to permit certain machining requirements which provide easily machined threaded constructions immediately ad jacent the ends 72 and 74 of the threaded construction 48, and yet maintain a groove construction with a substantially laminar flow of mud past the groove.

The threaded construction 48 is so made that the shoulders 53 and 54 may come together tightly at the upper end of the threaded engagement 48. However, because of machining consideration, the end 72 of the joint member 14 will not engage the shoulder 74 of the joint member 16 but has a plus or minus tolerance which slightly varies the groove Width 52A due to machining tolerances. The machining operations, according'to this invention, are so governed that the groove 52 is relatively small or narrow and is made as narrow as is possible while still permitting desirable tolerance. This relatively narrow groove 52A is combined with the tapered portion 528 to produce the substantially laminar flow of abrasive mud elsewhere described.

Due to variations in threading machinery, etc., the following variations may take place in the groove 52, the dimensions being given for pipe with a 4 /2' inch outside diameter, and also for pipes in the order of from 2% inches to 6 /2 inches outside diameter of the main body of the pipes 12. The pipes 12 may bein the order of /2 inch thickness at their thinnest part and in the order of A of an inch at their thickest part. The thickest parts of the joint members 14 and 16 may be 1% inches and the joint members may be in the order of 14% inches in length plus or minus inch manufacturing tolerance. The other parts of the joint construction may be more or less equal to proportional scale as shown in the drawings, unless otherwise specifically mentioned.

The joint member 16 and pipe 12 may have a threaded engagement at and a telescoping land engagement at 82, FIGURES 2 and 3. The joint member 16 may be semi-permanently secured to the pipe section 12 by heat shrinking and threading procedures elsewhere referred to.

Previous groove constructions between joint members such as indicated at 52 in FIGURE 6 have been in the order of from one to one and a quarter inches longitudinally of joint member 16, whereas the groove construction of this invention is from /8 or less inch in width.

A sharp corner at F, in FIGURE 6, in combination with a wide groove at 52 would cause back-feeding action of the eddy currents on the downstream side of the groove which would produce high cavitation erosion on the adjacent downstream inner surfaces.

The ends 32 and 42 of pipes 12 may be work hardened by hammering, rolling and the like for added strength. These pipes may be made of aluminum alloy 2014-T6 or 7075-T6. The steel of the joint members may be SAE-4140 steel or the like.

Since the aluminum pipe sections 12 generally are in the order of 30 feet long and the steel tool joints 14, 16 are relatively short, a very material Weight reduction is obtained by the use of aluminum in the long pipe section 12, while relatively strong and hard joints are provided.

The uniform inner flow diameters 20, 22 and 24 in the main parts of the drill string, the smoothinner joints at 38, 4t and 44 and 45 and the very narrow groove construction 52A materially reduce the frictional loss in the fluid within the drill string and prevent undue eddy currents and erosion cavitation by the abrasive fluid in the joint members and particularly in the upper ends 42 of the aluminum pipes 12 which are on the downstream side of the groove construction 52.

A new light weight and erosion proof pipe string construction and components thereof have been provided by this invention which are particularly useful in connection with deep well drilling operations. A new method of repairing eroded pipe sections also has been provided. A sleeve construction for pipe repair purposes has also been provided.

While the form of the invention now preferred has been disclosed as required by statute, other forms may be used, all coming within the scope of the claim which follows.

What is claimed is:

In combination: a first pipe section having a' relatively long first main body With a fluid passageway with a substantially uniform first main body internal diameter and including a first end portion with a first end shoulder; a tool pin joint member secured on said first end portion and including a first groove forming surface formed at one end thereof and a radially inwardly extending pin joint shoulder on said joint member smoothly and tightly abutting said first end shoulder, said first end portion and pin joint member having aligned equal first internal diameters substantially equal to saidmain body internal diameter and with smoothly abutting shoulders; a second pipe section having a relatively long second main body with a fluid passageway with a substantially uniform second main body internal diameter substantially equal to said first main body internal diameter and including a second end portion with a second end shoulder and a radially enlarged internal surface extending from said end shoulder and tapering axially and radially inwardly to said second main body internal diameter; a tool box joint member secured on said second end portion and including a second groove forming surface formed on one end thereof and cooperating with said first groove forming surface to define a radially inwardly directed groove between said pin and box joint members and a radially inwardly extending box shoulder on said box joint member smoothly and tightly abutting said second end shoulder, said second end portion and box joint member having aligned cylindraceous surfaces with equal second internal diameters at said smoothly abutting shoulders, said second internal diameters being greater than said first internal diameters, said cylindraceous surface in said box joint member extending axially from said second groove forming surface and said cylindraceous surface in said second end portion comprising a portion of said enlarged internal surface said joint members having threaded portions in 8 threaded engagement with each other and shoulder means in tight shoulder abutment at one end of said threaded engagement with said inwardly directed groove being between said joint members at the other end of said threaded engagement, and a wear resistant sleeve having an integral flange extending into and reducing the longitudinal extent of said groove and an axially extending portion overlying in a contacting relationship said cylindraceous surfaces and the remainder of said enlarged internal surface, said sleeve having an interior surface with a third internal diameter substantially equal to said first internal diameter whereby a substantially uniform bore extends through said pipe sections and said joint members.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS CARL W. TOMLIN, Primary Examiner. 

